This week-long retreat is geared toward those who wish to learn a set of practices for circulating and preparing the vital energies (prana) for meditation. Hatha yoga, like Vajrayana Buddhism, is designed to purify and prepare the body, vital energy, and mind for meditative quiescence and insight. This is why physical postures (asana), breath work (pranayama), visualization (dharana), and chanting (mantra) have always been used in both traditions.

Shadow Yoga is a Hatha Yoga system that consists of circular and spiraling movements, warrior stances, and sun salutation forms, as well as traditional seated postures designed to produce resonance in the body and mind for healing and meditation. Chandra will give instruction on Shamatha (Calm Abiding) meditation which includes ‘Mindfulness of the Breath’ as taught by the Buddha, and ‘Settling the Mind in Its Natural State’ as taught by the 8th century Indian Buddhist sage, Padmasambhava, who brought Tantric Buddhism to Tibet. Lama Tsultrim will join us for an afternoon to introduce and guide the practice of “Feeding Your Demons,” a process based on the Tibetan practice of Chöd by which we learn to feed rather than fight our so-called ‘demons’ as a means to liberate our energetic and emotional blockages.

Fees: Sliding scale fees allow participants to pay according to individual means. Your payment above the low end directly benefits our scholarship fund.
Double: $1,175 - $850
Queen Double: $1,245 - $925
Single: $1,550 - $1,145
Camping: $775 - $590
Suggested Dana: $160 - $320

Accommodation descriptions can be found here.

Sustaining Sangha discounts range from 10%-20% based on your membership level and are calculated at registration.

Detailed information about retreats at Tara Mandala
Travel Information (booking flights, shuttles, hotels)
Download registration form (PDF)
Register securely online: 100% of course cost due at registration

Scott Blossom is a Traditional Chinese Medical practitioner, Shadow Yoga teacher, and Ayurvedic Consultant. He has been studying yoga for over eighteen years and teaching for twelve. His primary teachers are Zhander Remete, founder of Shadow Yoga, and Dr. Robert Svoboda, renowned Ayurvedic physician and scholar.

In 1996, Chandra Easton’s strong interest in meditation led her to study Buddhist philosophy, meditation, and Tibetan language at the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives in Dharamsala, India, and she received her degree in Religious Studies at UC Santa Barbara. Chandra has taught Buddhist meditation and yoga since 2001 nationally and internationally.

Learn more about Scott and Chandra at www.shunyatayoga.com

Lama Tsultrim Allione, author and international teacher, founded Tara Mandala in 1994. Inspired by the vision of a Western retreat center while living in the Himalayas in the 1970s, Lama Tsultrim founded Tara Mandala with her husband David Petit, where she is now the spiritual director and resident teacher.

Lama Tsultrim was one of the first American women to be ordained as a Tibetan nun in 1970 by the 16th Karmapa. At the age of 26, after four years as a nun, she returned her monastic vows, married, and raised a family of three. Lama Tsultrim earned a Master’s degree in Buddhist Studies and Women’s Studies from Antioch University. She is the author of Women of Wisdom, a groundbreaking book on the lives of great female Tibetan practitioners.

Lama Tsultrim also authored the recently published Feeding Your Demons: Ancient Wisdom for Resolving Inner Conflict, which connects the knowledge of Tibetan Buddhism with the modern psyche, addressing major cultural issues and the roots of our suffering. This National Bestseller is based on Lama Tsultrim’s pioneering technique using five steps to nurture the parts of ourselves we usually fight.

Lama Tsultrim has for many years focused her teachings on the lineage of Machig Labdrön, the 11th century Tibetan yogini who founded the Chöd lineage. In 2007, while leading a pilgrimage to Tibet, she was recognized as an emanation of Machig Labdrön by the resident Lama of Zangri Khangmar (Machig’s monastery in Tibet). In 2009 she was selected by an esteemed committee of scholars and practitioners to receive the international Outstanding Woman in Buddhism Award given in Bangkok, Thailand.

Lama Tsultrim’s teachings arise from the blessings of her many wonderful Tibetan Buddhist teachers, her 40-year dedication to the Buddhist teachings, and her experience as a Western woman.